Ok, so starting a new story is probably the last thing I need to do right now, but this would not leave me alone. I hope you guys enjoy it! :)

Chapter 1

Haven McDonald woke with a start. She could hear the pounding of her stepfather's work boots on the stairs and her heart sank with dread. Her mother had married Frank out of desperation not knowing that it would be the worst mistake of her life.

Haven had begged her to reconsider, but Mavis McDonald was dead set on remarrying. The year that followed had been terrible. The two women quickly found out that Frank Lawson had a mean streak a mile wide and a short fuse to boot. Both of them now sported scars and recent bruises from his drunken explosions.

Tonight was no different. Haven lay in the dark staring up at the stained ceiling of her bedroom hoping he would just keep walking. At twenty-two years old, she should be living in her own apartment and holding down a nice job. Instead she is forced to work at a crummy gas station and give every penny she earns to her stepfather.

She hears the thuds stop just outside her door and suddenly it occurs to her. Run! Never look back and just keep going. Haven was smart, unlike her mother whose only act of brilliance had been marrying the kind Benjamin McDonald. However, her father was gone and she was tired of watching her mother make the same mistakes over and over again.

She couldn't just walk away from her mother without giving her an out. So she quickly grabbed her heaviest book, an encyclopedia, and flung her bedroom door wide open. Haven was met with flying fists, which she ducked with practiced ease. When the rotund man before her stood silent and gasping for breath she whacked him over the head with the book.

Frank sank to the ground with a grunt, unconscious and unharmed. Haven ran for her mother's room and crept inside. She found Mavis huddled in a corner. Upon seeing her daughter, the shivering woman got up and walked past her into the hall. When she saw her husband sprawled on the floor she ran and knelt by his side.

"Haven, what have you done?"

"I just knocked him out, Mom. This is our chance, we can leave and never look back", Haven said with stern conviction.

"No, I can't leave him", her mother said with tears in her eyes, " I love him."

"Mom, love doesn't beat you and treat you like trash."

"He's sick, Haven. He needs me."

Haven stared at her mother where she knelt on the old shag carpet and realized that her mother wasn't going to leave. Either she stayed and lived out her sentence with her mother and Frank, or she ran. At that moment she decided that she wanted a life where she didn't live in fear. A life where she could love and be loved in return.

"I can't live like this, Mom. I'm getting out", she said as she entered her room.

She wasn't surprised when her mother didn't follow. Haven began to throw her clothes into an old duffle along with a few of her beloved books. She got dressed and pulled her dark blue sweatshirt over her head then pulled her hair into a ponytail before cramming her dad's Yankees cap on her head.

Haven hugged her mother, "Good bye, Mom. I'll call you when I'm settled."

Then she moved to go down the stairs. Unfortunately, Frank chose that moment to wake up. He came up off the floor with a roar, and surprisingly more alert than before. Haven ran down the stairs and out into the dim early morning light. She jogged down the sidewalk and down the dark streets of D.C.

Before long she reached the park, so she ran for the Lincoln Memorial and stowed her bag in a shadowy corner before sprinting down the steps. Haven could see the headlights of Frank's car as he pulled up to the curb. She was so busy trying to keep a lookout for her stepfather that she didn't see the man coming towards her.

Steve Rogers loved early morning runs. It reminded him of his days in the service. He ran in the park every morning, most of the time it was quiet and uninterrupted. This morning had been no different, until he saw the figure taking the steps to the Lincoln Memorial two at a time.

He watched again as the figure came back down the steps and started in his direction. Steve saw the car pulling to the curb, but saw no connection to the runner who was headed right for him. Then he saw the angry man step out of the driver's side, and the swish of a ponytail belonging to the woman who had just collided with him.

He heard her give a little "umph", as she collided with his chest. He quickly cupped her elbows, trying to steady her as she stumbled backwards.

"I'm so sorry", she said in a sweet Southern accent.

"Are you alright", Steve asked as he looked down into a pair of pretty brown eyes shrouded in dark lashes.

"No. I mean yeas", she said quickly trying to extricate herself from his grasp.

Steve held firm and watched the woman as she glanced nervously behind her at the man now staggering back to his car. He felt her breath on his neck as she gave what seemed to be a relieved sigh.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to plow right into you like that. I would say I'm not normally this clumsy, but that would be a lie", the woman said with a smirk.

"No, harm done", Steve answered with a smile of his own, "Did you know that man?"

"Umm, no I sure didn't. Did you?"

"No, I didn't either", he said knowing the woman had to be lying.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going. It was nice to meet you Mr. …?"

"Rogers. Steve Rogers."

"Oh my goodness, you're Captain America! I practically ran over Captain America! I am so sorry", she said apologizing for what felt like the thousandth time.

"It's really fine, I promise. It takes more than a small collision with a female jogger to incapacitate me", he said with a grin.

He watched as the woman buried her face in her hands and gave a mortified sigh, "It was nice to meet you Mr. Rogers", she said when she finally looked up.

"It was nice to meet you too, but I don't think I caught your name."

"Haven McDonald", she said extending her hand.

Steve shook the offered hand, with a smile.

"It was nice running into you this morning Mrs. McDonald."

"Haha, very funny. Please call me Haven, and it's Miss not Mrs."

Steve couldn't help but smile at this strange woman, "You'll have to call me Steve then if we're going to be on a first name basis."

"Alright, Steve. I guess I'll see you around."

With that she was jogging away, her brown hair swishing behind her. Steve shook his head; this was definitely a morning to remember. The guys would never believe this one.

Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! :)